Founders’ Honor

As one of New Zealand’s largest energy retailers and generators, Contact Energy is building the 174-megawatt Tauhara Geothermal power station in Taupo, making it the sixth geothermal power station in the area. Upon completion, the plant will increase New Zealand’s geothermal electricity supply to 12%, contributing to the organization’s decarbonization efforts. The depth and number of wells for the project presented drilling challenges, requiring 3D digital solutions for the multiple team members to ensure optimal targeted planning and drilling of the wells.Contact Energy selected Seequent’s Leapfrog Energy and Central applications to perform 3D subsurface modeling in a collaborative, cloud-based platform, enabling the team to digitally visualize in real-time multiple well plans simultaneously. Working in a connected digital environment, the team identified drilling targets, planned directional wells, and drilled multiple wells from the same location, resulting in a smaller project footprint. Using Leapfrog Energy and Central, Contact Energy successfully drilled the wells on schedule for the Tauhara Station, which is expected to displace carbon emissions equivalent to removing 220,000 gas-powered cars from New Zealand roads.